This invention concerns the design of capacitors.
Capacitors are used for many purposes in electronics. One common purpose is the delivery of power at low inductances and high speeds. A typical application of this is the delivery of power to microprocessors. In one approach, discrete capacitors are mounted on the surface of a package carrying the microprocessor, using standard surface mount and reflow processing techniques. Discrete capacitor leads and long current loops may drive inductance to levels above maximum limits for acceptable microprocessor performance, because high inductance slows the rise times of signals and contributes to voltage fluctuations that ultimately slow down microprocessor speed.
Also, as microprocessor clock speeds increase, the interaction between capacitors and the power or ground plates of a package, interposer, or board on which they are mounted becomes vitally important to the performance of the microprocessor power delivery system.